Party Talk
by BlackMH
Summary: We all know that 'Power Animal' had a scene where Bubblegum and Marceline where in a party for the first time in the show. So what happened? Did the two finally meet? Did they become enemies? Or maybe, they where always friends? FinnxBubblegum content.


Hello everyone! Another Adventure Time fic, what a surprise! Not.

Anyway, I've been seeing a lot of fics out there about what would happen if Marceline and Bubblegum were to meet. Well, unlike others, I've always established that the two had long met before and are already good friends with each other. I mean, for one, that was what the AT staff was going for, a friendly rivalry between the two. And secondly, the two are royalty and it's evident that they meet up from time to time, like in the episode 'The Duke' where Marceline made a cameo at the end.

Anyway, I just really, really like the idea of the two already having such a close friendship with each other, which you may have caught from reading my other story 'The Better Bust'. For the most part, I just really like writing the two. They have such a dynamic relationship I just have to write it. c:

Enough of that. The idea of this story is writing out what might've happened in the party at the beginning of 'Power Animal', where Finn isn't aware that the two are friends and tries to introduce them.

Let's get started. :D

…

**Party Talk**

The celestial alignments.

The beautiful waves of light that danced over the night skies of Ooo.

Only once every hundred years could they be seen in the starry skies, glistening beautifully and waving like tremors in the ocean. It was such a fascinating sight, for its beauty and mystery, that a group of assorted people and beings were watching the lights atop of a tree forte, assembled to watch these lights. The party had a merry time, sharing drinks and having conversations while looking up to see the auroras every now and then. However, for such a small place the roof provided, not as many friends could attend the party like the hosts had hoped. So, only a select few of the closest people to them were invited. To one boy, the important ones were a princess of the Candy Kingdom and a queen of the vampires.

Finn looked back down from the sky and into his cup, observing the punch he and his friend Jake made prior to the party. He shook the cup, watching the ice and liquid swirl in the drink before taking a sip. He gulped and looked around the party, seeing some of his guests seated and resting while others staring up at the lights above. In the background, he could see the vampire known as Marceline floating around, strumming the strings on her guitar. She floated behind the boat balcony of the tree forte and that's when his eyes diverted to the candy princess observing the lights above.

That's right, he remembered, Bubblegum had always wanted to see the Celestial Alignment since she read about it in the books. After some research, she discovered that they were due to appear within a few days and she mentioned how she wanted to see them so badly. One thing led to another, such as him mentioning his tree forte's rooftop and offering her to see the lights at his house, and the next thing he knew, he was cooking food and building a room on the roof for a party rescheduled to that night. To his dismay, he was hoping it would be a night alone together with the princess, staring at the mysterious lights and cuddling with the bubblegum female, but she suggested the party before he could suggest the date. Not like he'd call it that, though, but he took what he could get.

Now that he remembered it, he should try talking to her while she was here at his house. Better now than later, he figured.

The boy walked towards the princess, trying to stay calm and not get nervous like he would when he approached her for any other reason aside from importance. He breathed deeply, the sound of tree leaves giving out under his steps as he walked, and stood just inches from the edge of the tree that led to the steps to the boat Bubblegum stood in.

"Uh, hey princess!" he sounded off, catching her attention as she turned her head to him.

"Oh, hey Finn!" she replied with a smile.

Finn blushed bashfully at her smile. It was an appreciative and sweet smile that he loved seeing whenever she was jovial and feeling okay with herself and everything else. It also reminded him about her appreciation when he invited her to the party and she hugged him as thanks. Needless to say, he blushed a much deeper shade of red than he's blushing right now.

"So, how are you liking this party?" he asked as he carefully trekked his way down the roof's edge.

"I'm really loving it so far. I'm so glad you invited me," she answered.

Finn walked across the branch of the tree and towards the boat. He had done it many times and wasn't concerned about his balance. He could do it blindfolded if he wanted to, which he planned to do on his list of stuff to achieve, among other inane objectives.

"You wanted to see the lights. Why wouldn't I invite you to something like this?"

Finn hopped over the edge of the boat, keeping his cup from spilling, as the princess backed up a little to give themselves room.

"I appreciate the invitation, Finn. You're really sweet," she said warmly.

Finn chuckled modestly, reaching his hand behind his head to scratch. "Uh, eheheh, you're welcome, princess."

Unbeknownst to the two, a mischievous eye had been observing them as they talked. A fanged smirk crept onto her face with an impish idea looming into her head. Silently, she descended downwards to the two humans, well, one human and one half human, being careful not to be noticed by the two just yet.

"They say that the Celestial Alignment is a cosmic event," the princess said, "where the galactic beings above loom close to this planet and those lights are the energy they give off."

"Wow, really?" Finn asked eagerly, "Like, gods or something?"

"Nobody knows," she answered, looking back up to the auroras in the sky, "That's the original legend. Scientists have been trying to debunk that legend and figure out what really causes these lights, but they only happen once every hundreds of years, making research difficult. It doesn't help that they're so distracting…"

"Yeah, they're beautiful…" Finn said. Though, he wasn't looking at the auroras…

Bubblegum turned to Finn unexpectedly, causing Finn to realize what he had just said and darted his gaze back to the lights in the sky. He inexplicably began sweating and blushed hard, trying to put up a convincing façade that he wasn't staring at the princess just then even though it wouldn't do any good. He tried to avoid eye contact and resisted the temptation to look back, but failed and snuck a peek at Bubblegum for just a second to see that she was still looking at him and quickly turned away. The princess giggled at this expression of embarrassment.

For the vampire, it was too much to remain silent.

The loud ring of laughter filled the air as the two looked back in surprise. Lo and behold, the Vampire Queen, guffawing at the miserable display of affection from the human boy to the candy princess.

"Marceline?" the human boy exclaimed, oblivious to her presence beforehand.

The vampire breathed air as she ceased her laughter to address the human questioning her presence.

"Very smooth, Finn," the vampire taunted, wiping her eye of a tear, "Calling the princess beautiful. I almost died."

Finn involuntarily looked at the princess next to him at this, who also turned away from the vampire to look at him. In total embarrassment, the boy looked away with a flushed face, staring hard into his cup at a loss at what to say to excuse the words he had said moments ago. He could hear the princess giggling behind him, still playing off the romantic tension.

He probably looked stupid to her, he thought.

He had to change the subject to something else. Something that would pull the subject of the conversation away from Finn's embarrassing words he uttered to Bubblegum.

As Marceline laughed at Finn as well, he was suddenly reminded of something. He had invited the both of them because they were close friends. But just now, it hadn't occurred to them that they have never met before. This was the first time the two were here together in one place. Perfect.

"Uhh, so!" Finn quickly said, hoping to clear the tension against him, "Bubblegum, I'd like you to meet Marceline."

Bubblegum ceased her giggling as he said this. She looked at him mildly confused as he pointed his arm at the vampire floating in front of them. Marceline also stopped her laughter when Finn was about to introduce the two of them to each other. She found it a little humorous, since the introduction wasn't necessary. But apparently Finn wasn't aware that the princess before him and the vampire lady were already on good terms long before this party brought them together.

"Marceline, I'd like you to-"

"Bethany Bubblegum," Marceline interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Marceline Campbell," Bubblegum said as well.

Finn looked left and right to the princess and the vampire, both of them smiling at Finn's bewilderment. They were very amused at this and couldn't help but laugh a little. Finn felt more confused than he was embarrassed, mostly because he was not expecting such a response from either of them.

"Wait, you know each other?" Finn asked.

"Of course we do," Bubblegum replied, "All families of royalty know each other."

"Only pinky and I are actually close friends," Marceline explained.

"Oh…" Finn said slowly in enlightenment, "…for how long?"

"Mmm, probably for a few years, now," Bubblegum said as she placed a finger on her chin and looked up in memory.

"I met Bubblegum at her first attending of the Meeting of Ooo Royalty," Marceline said, "It also happened to be the first meeting I attended in a while. I only went because I was bored."

"Ohh…" Finn uttered again.

He looked to Marceline and then to Bubblegum. He couldn't imagine the two being very close friends; their interests and attitude were vastly different. Not only that, he felt like his presence was cutting in between the two, almost making him feel unwanted. He would've left on his own accord if Bubblegum hadn't asked him a question.

"So Finn," she said, bringing his full attention up, "How did you meet Marceline?"

"Oh, uhh…"

"I kicked him out of his tree house," Marceline answered.

Bubblegum turned to the vampire with a surprised look.

"What? Why?"

"I already told you that I have a lot of places in Ooo marked as my territory, pinky," the vampire answered, "Finn and his weenie dog had moved into the tree while I was out traveling."

"Hey, he has a name, you know," Finn retorted, mildly annoyed.

"Yeah, Jack. Whatever," she dismissed.

Finn huffed as he puffed up his cheeks in irritation as Bubblegum continued talking to the vampire.

"But they still have the house now," she said, "Did you give it back to them? I mean, I know you kicked them out because you're just like that, but it's not like you to just give it back."

"Well…" Marceline said, hesitant. She wasn't sure if she should tell her that she almost killed Finn's dog; she'd surely be upset by that. "…after I cleaned up the tree forte and redecorated it a little, I went to go check out a cave that I marked years ago and I found those two already set up with a home in there. One thing led to another, and we eventually had a fight."

Bubblegum covered her mouth as she gasped. She knew well of the vampire's power and was suddenly worried if Finn had sustained any injuries from the fight. Even though he was right there standing next to her and not ailing, she'd be very upset if Finn was mortally wounded in that battle.

"And you won?" Bubblegum asked.

"Well, we sort of stopped after I bit Finn's dog…"

Marceline looked to see Bubblegum with an even more worried face.

"…who survived, by the way. He didn't turn into a vampire or anything."

Bubblegum seemed to be relieved at this. She sighed as she lowered her hand from her mouth.

"Anyways, I came to acknowledge Finn's strength and decided to give the two back their house."

"Oh, wow. Really?" Bubblegum asked.

The princess knew that Marceline only respected other people with admirable strength and fighting ability. She herself was an exception for reasons past those of power. For Finn to be a respected fighter and a good friend of the vampire, he must be much stronger than she had always believed.

"Yeah. The kid has a strong punch for a human his age," Marceline said.

"I do a lot of adventuring, you know?" Finn said as he bashfully placed one hand behind his head.

Bubblegum looked to Finn and giggled as he said this. But when she remembered that he and Marceline had their dispute over territory, she pardoned her fascination and spoke to the vampire.

"But still, if you had really beaten up Finn badly that day, if not kill him…" she said, soon lowering into a morbid mumble.

Marceline could feel the incoming guilt trip and rolled her eyes at the princess. Not in annoyance, but because she had no way of helping her attitude back then; she didn't know.

"Ugh, Bubblegum. How was I supposed to know this kid was your personal knight in shining armor?" she asked.

Finn looked to Marceline when she said this then back to Bubblegum. Did they talk about him without him knowing? Maybe he was mentioned? Regardless, it seems that the vampire knew about her rescues enough to connect him as Bubblegum's personal hero, as she put it. In that retrospect, did she know about his crush on the princess as well?

"If I had known that this kid was your boyfriend, I would've gone easy on him, at least," she said.

Finn's face grew red immediately when he heard.

"She's not my girlfriend!" he shouted, taking the two of them by surprise.

Bubblegum stood there in silence, unsure of what to make of Finn's exclamation. Marceline hovered in place, surprised that the boy would be so bold to shout at her like that. But she wasn't upset by it. Normally, she'd laugh it off at the smaller person, but her words stimulated such a response from the kid, Finn probably did have such feelings for the girl. He didn't want to admit it, though, and this caused her brow to rise with a mischievous idea growing in her head.

"…whatever you say, Finny," Marceline said.

Finn realized that he had just shouted and that there were some people from the party looking at him oddly. He could see Jake giving him an odd look as he was silently chuckling at him. Finn shot back a look that could've said 'Don't say anything,' and Jake complied, turning his attention away from Finn and his friends and back to the party as the other guests turned away as well. Finn turned back to the two ladies before him and found himself in the same situation again; to turn the subject away from him.

"Uh, so! Marceline," Finn said, trying to restore the conversation, "You were saying?"

Bubblegum had more on her mind to say to Marceline, but she decided to drop it so that the vampire could continue with her story.

"…well, alright," Marceline said, beckoning eyes and ears wanting her to resume her tale, "so, I met Finn a little later at a nearby bone yard and I wanted to mess with him, so I tricked him into becoming my henchmen for a while."

"Oh yeah!" Finn spoke up, recalling the memory of the stress and confliction of that one night, "I remember that. You had me help you feed and kill a Dimple Plant."

"Oh, a Dimple Plant?" Bubblegum said. She turned to Marceline and pointed at her while she raised her brow in a sassy manner. "Did you tell him to do that in the Dimple Plant's nymph stage?"

"Ha ha, mayyyyybe…" the vampire impishly replied.

Bubblegum giggled. "Hopefully, Finn slew it before it was fully developed."

"Nah, he got swallowed and I had to pluck the plant's brain stalk to get him out," she answered.

Finn noted the words 'fully developed' and was curious. "Wait, Bubblegum, what do you mean by 'fully developed'?"

Bubblegum looked to Finn and then back at Marceline, who stifled a chuckle.

"You don't want to know," she said, Marceline nodding her head in agreement.

"So anyways," Marceline continued, "Finn caught on to my game just as his dog attacked me. It would've been nothing for me to handle had it not been for the sun weakening me."

Bubblegum gasped again in worry. The vampire couldn't help but laugh again.

"Stop doing that, Peebs," Marceline expressed, "You're gonna faint if you keep that up."

The princess realized this and laughed a little as well. "Well, excuse me. It's kinda hard not to when I hear some of my friends could've been killed without me knowing."

Marceline laughed again before resuming her story. "Well, anyways. Finn was nice enough to help me by letting me hide in his backpack and fooling Jack into-"

"It's Jake," Finn interrupted.

"Whatever. His dog-" Finn huffed again in irritation, but decided to let her continue, "-into believing he had slain me. So, from then on, me and Finn became friends. I even let him stop by my house to help me record a jam session."

"Uh, hey, Marceline," Finn almost whispered, cutting in, "Can we leave out the part where I summoned your father…?"

"Sure. I wasn't gonna say anything about that either," Marceline answered.

Bubblegum chuckled a little. She knew exactly who Marceline's father was; she had told her about him a few months ago in a conversation about distant family members. Of course, she also knew that her father was the Lord of Evil and was mildly distressed in hearing that Finn had summoned him, but by now she was used to not worrying over past events, especially since seeing her friends healthy and in one piece meant things had already been resolved.

"So Bubblegum," Marceline spoke up, bringing their attention to her, "how did you and Finn meet?"

Bubblegum and Finn perked up at this. It had been a long time since the two of them had met, almost two years, but she still fondly remembered the day she met Finn. The boy turned to her as she placed a finger on her chin as she spoke.

"Oh. Right. Um, hmm…" the princess hummed, craning her head upwards in remembrance, "Well, it was two years ago and I was delivering an announcement in the town square of my kingdom."

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Finn said, pointing at the princess in remembrance, "I had visited the kingdom a day before, but the second visit was when I first saw you."

"Yeah. I remember how bewildered I was to see a human for the first time," Bubblegum said.

Marceline quirked a brow at her in silence. Bubblegum felt this stare and turned to the vampire, seeing Marceline looking at her with an odd look on her face. She soon caught on to her thought behind her face and chuckled apologetically.

"Marceline, you know you don't count, right?" Bubblegum said.

The vampire shrugged. "I guess, but still. I have some merit to being human."

"Sorry, Marcy. But if I had a penny for every humanlike person I've met, I'd be Abraham Lincoln," the princess chuckled.

Finn smiled as well. He knew what the princess was talking about. "I guess that'd make me the vice president to Abraham."

"Figuratively, yes."

The three of them laughed at their analogy to the sixteenth president of the world before. Marceline was the first to cease her laughter as she was more interested in hearing Bubblegum's story.

"So Peebs. You were saying?" she asked.

"Oh, right," Bubblegum said before returning to reviewing the memory of hers, placing her hand back on her chin, "Anyways, I remember how I couldn't control myself when I wanted to observe Finn more. I squeezed his cheeks, peeked into his mouth, tried to remove his hat…" she giggled humorously, "Oh, it's embarrassing thinking about it now."

Finn chuckled at the memory. He fondly remembered how the princess tried to study him in such a way, and quite rudely too. He still remembered how her hands tasted like when she pried his mouth open and counted his teeth. Bubblegum…

The boy began to blush at this thought as it was one of the few times he and the princess had ever gotten such close contact, aside from a few hugs and that one smooch on the forehead. He blushed even harder at this but didn't notice that the vampire was observing him and his face. It was when the vampire chuckled that he realized what he was thinking and looked down embarrassingly. He hoped that the vampire had not caught on to his emotions for the pink princess.

"Hahaha, really Bubblegum?" Marceline taunted, "What a way to deliver a first impression. You examine all new people you meet like that?"

Finn sighed a little in relief. While it seemed that the vampire hadn't noticed his blushing, unbeknownst to him, she had already figured it out. Given Marceline's mischievous nature, it was guaranteed that she'd provoke Finn's romantic ire by teasing him about it.

Bubblegum huffed a little, puffing her cheeks up to look scolding but failed as she only looked cuter than she was threatening, at least to Finn. "Not all new people. I just couldn't help it that time because I had never seen a real human before."

"Yeah, I get it," Marceline said in a nearly dismissive manner, "Finn's just special to you, isn't he?"

Bubblegum giggled at this, causing Finn to look at her in earnest sentiment with a hint of hope. She's not denying the vampire's words like he would have. Did this mean that the princess liked him back like he did? At least he hoped she did.

"Of course he's special," Bubblegum answered.

Finn's eyes brightened.

"He's my best friend," she finished.

The boy's head drooped a little at this as his face hung in disappointment. He's just a friend to her, he thought. Finn sighed in his mind; he was hoping she'd think of him as more than just a friend. But, oh well, this close friendship of theirs was the best he was going to get. For now, anyways…

Marceline chuckled, not oblivious to Finn's reaction. "Haha, whatever you say, pinky. But I can't help but wonder how long it'll stay like that."

Finn perked up and looked at Marceline oddly. Bubblegum gave her the same look as well, wondering what she was implying.

"Wait, what do you mean by that, Marceline?" Bubblegum asked.

Marceline shrugged as she levitated upwards. "You tell me, princess. Anytime soon, Finn's gonna confess h-"

Sounds like she already knew, Finn thought.

"CONFESS!" he shouted, silencing the vampire in surprise.

The princess and the vampire stared at him, Finn excitedly standing straighter than normal, as the boy leaned on the boat with unnecessary strength.

"…confess, that…" he spoke, trying to find the right words to redirect Marceline's sentence before she could finish it, "…that I like D. Van Khoffer's books."

While an odd excuse to use, it seemed that Bubblegum had bought it, changing the subject to one about books.

"Really?" Bubblegum gasped, "I love his work!"

Marceline broke into a smile at this. She couldn't help but giggle at the two, her close friend oblivious to Finn's feelings and the boy wanting romantic recognition from the princess. She saw it sort of cute at how Finn quickly shifted from pining for love from the princess to denying any such feelings swiftly and dismissively. She lazily reeled back as she observed the two; she decided not to continue her sentence before Finn loudly interjected and let the two have their little talk.

"Have you read his work titled, 'Funeral of the Sun'?" the princess asked.

Finn stood there, unsure at how to answer. "Uhh…" The only reason he brought up the author was because he needed to say something quickly to change the subject, and his name just popped up. He only read one book of his, if you count reading one page before losing interest and tossing the book carelessly into a pile of forgotten, and was at a loss at how to answer Bubblegum.

"…yeah?" he decided to answer.

"Did you hear that they're making a movie based on it?" she asked again.

"Whoa, really?" Finn responded in a happier tone.

"Yeah. It's due to be released into theatres a few months from now. I'm so excited to see it!" Bubblegum said, expressing her excitement by wringing her hand and squealing a little.

Finn nodded. He wasn't normally interested in books, but watching a film version of the book? He wouldn't have to strain his eyes reading context and his attention span can be held by a video much better than paper could. And Bubblegum does seem very excited about it…

"Oh. Finn?" she said, spurring a "Yeah?" from the boy, "Can you move aside? I need to go get more punch."

"Oh, okay. Sure," he said, inching himself on one side of the boat to let the princess pass.

Bubblegum tapped slowly by the boy, temporarily waving her scent at him. Finn inhaled lovingly as her hair brushed by his skin. It was smooth and rubbery, like gum. He trembled a little at the touch, subconsciously missing those hugs she'd give him sometimes. As the princess left the boat, Finn expressed mild dismay when he couldn't smell her presence anymore. He watched her climb the ladders of his rooftop, going into the party that still frolicked under the stars above. He sighed pleasantly as he lost sight of her, but he wasn't sad. He knew she'd return soon.

However, Finn had forgotten all about the other person there with him.

"Aww, does widdle Finny have a cwush on the pwincess?" Marceline spoke tauntingly, folding her lips to overemphasize the 'w' sound.

He quickly turned to the vampire, face flushed brightly at the cutesy sounds Marceline spoke to him, and looked the other way, denying her words.

"No I don't!" he quickly denied.

"Haha, it's okay, Finn," the vampire said, floating closer to the boy, "If you wanna kiss Peebs, I'd let you."

Finn blushed even harder and felt uncomfortable the closer the vampire approached. "I…don't know what you're talking about!"

She chuckled as the boy folded his arms and puffed his cheeks. Oh, how she loved messing with the kid.

"Oh, don't worry, Finn. I'm her friend, and I'd know she wouldn't mind getting a kiss from you," Marceline said, smirking impishly.

Finn didn't shy away this time. Instead, he was more interested in hearing what Bubblegum thought of him in the vampire's perspective.

"Wait…she wouldn't?" Finn asked.

Marceline chuckled. "Of course! I'm her friend, after all. I know plenty more things about her than you do."

Finn's flushed face died down a little bit, still keeping a consistent shade of red on his cheeks. He was starting to consider confessing himself to the princess if the vampire's words were true.

Then again, it was Marceline he was talking about…

"…so, what do you think I should do?" he asked.

Marceline shrugged and reclined in the air, "What do you want to do? If you want to confess to her and propose, you're gonna need a really fancy ring, a suit, a castle, a wedding planner-"

"No! Not that!" Finn quickly protested, waving his hand wildly.

The vampire laughed again.

"Hahaha. Oh man, Finn. You make it too easy for me," she said.

Finn fumed again. He let his facade down for a second and the vampire was quick to strike. He knew it was in her nature to mess with people like that, but this one time during their time spent together was one of the few times he was not amused by her antics. He growled and turned around, no longer wanting to hear any of Marceline's 'advice'.

Marceline ceased her laughter as Finn refused to speak to her. She sighed. He was taking her too seriously again.

"But seriously. If you want Bubblegum to like you, invite her to something she'd love to do, like a date," the vampire said.

Finn shook his head. "No way. I'm not doing that," he stubbornly said.

"Why not?" Marceline said, "Just take her somewhere she would love to go or do something with her that she wants to do, and you'll soften her up for your confession. Everyone knows that's how dates work."

Finn turned to Marceline. "Oh really? Then where would she want to go for a date?"

The vampire clicked her tongue as she shook her head. "Now Finn. That's something you have to figure out on your own. If I told you, it'd be cheating, now, wouldn't it?"

Before Finn could say another word, the faint sound of footsteps on wood rung in Finn's ear. He turned around to see the princess making her way towards the boat, unbeknownst to the conversation that took place.

"Sorry I took a while," she said as she approached. Finn kindly held his hand out to support the princess as she carefully walked over the branch. Obligated, she took it and was helped over the edge of the boat. "Jake was telling everyone this supposedly funny joke. Something about a goblin…anyway, he passed out and Rainicorn's trying to wake him up."

"Ha ha," Finn chuckled, "That silly goose."

"Anyway, Finn, about that movie-"

"Wait a minute, Bubblegum," Marceline intervened.

The two looked at the vampire as she spoke up. It soon dawned on Finn what she was about to say and the boy was furiously shouting at her in his mind, gritting his teeth and scowling hard as drops of sweat formed on his forehead.

'No, Marceline! Not now! Now's not cool!'

The vampire could see his panicked expression. She smirked.

"Finn has something he wants to ask you. Right, Finn?" she winked.

'I hate you so much right now.'

"Oh? What is it, Finn?" Bubblegum asked.

Finn exchanged his panicked face for a worried one as he slowly turned around, trying to come up with something for a proposal Marceline had just forced him to make.

"Uhh…yeah…I, uh…" he fumbled his words.

'Think, Finn. Think!' the boy told himself, 'Something she wants to do… Wait a minute…the movie. Yes!'

"Uhh, I was wondering…if…" he spoke, trying to get his words together.

"Yeah…?"

"…um, would you…like to see that movie?" he forced out, "…when it comes out?"

Bubblegum's face slowly brightened into total elation at the question.

"Yes!" Bubblegum exclaimed happily, swinging her arms out while inadvertently tossing her drink off the boat to hug the boy, "I would love to see it!"

Shock, confusion, solace, warmth, and then happiness displayed on Finn's face as the princess hugged him tightly. He was very happy now, and not just because he was in the middle of that long coveted hug of the princess's.

He just asked Bubblegum out on a date.

And she said yes.

Marceline chuckled.

Her business done, she levitated away from the boat and reclined, facing the clear skies above. She saw that the Celestial Alignments had faded from the cosmic sea above an unknown while ago and knew that the party would end soon. She sighed contently; tonight had been a good night.

She wanted to mess with Finn a little more but at the moment, he was enjoying a tender moment with the candy princess and she didn't want to intrude. Not out of a whim to leave the boy alone but out of respect for Bubblegum. She was happy that Finn had asked her to see a movie of her favorite book. In fact, that's the only reason she provoked Finn in such a way; to coax him into asking her out to the movie she's really wanted to see since it was announced. Not only that, she wasn't kidding when she said to Finn she knew more about Bubblegum than he did; the two did talk often. She had figured out on her own that the 'brave knight' Bubblegum had been telling her about was the boy hero named Finn through context clues. Before meeting the kid, Bubblegum always mentioned about some brave hero boy rescuing her from that nerd Ice King and other such stories involving the kid. After meeting Finn, she connected the boy to her stories and since then, because of his affiliation with Bubblegum, she's eased up on him and they've grown a friendship since.

But just because it seems like Finn and her favorite princess were about to hook up soon didn't mean she would reserve mercy for the kid in the future. She and Finn were still friends and how she treats him wouldn't change if he becomes an item with Bubblegum. However, she would see to it that the boy doesn't screw it up with the princess. If he dares do anything that would sadden or disappoint Bubblegum or fail to live up to his promises, she'd personally track him down and…well, it'd be a very violent outcome, that's for sure.

'The kid's gonna need advice,' she thought to herself as she floated away. She couldn't help but chuckle at the image in her head, Finn pleading to her for tips on dating…

"Hey Finn?" Bubblegum spoke up, parting from the hug.

"Yeah?" he replied, disappointed inside from the princess pulling away.

"…did you mean it?"

"Mean what?" he asked.

"When you said that I'm beautiful?" she asked with a sweet face.

Finn's face tensed up, cheeks flush and teeth gritted, at a loss at how to respond to that question. Marceline had just left, as he found out by looking around the area quickly, and it was just the two of them in the boat. There was nothing around to stir up and change the subject; the disappeared auroras unseen by Finn under the parasol of the boat.

'Oh boy…' he thought distressingly.

How was he going to get out of this one?

**End.**

Hope you enjoyed that story. I still feel this isn't my best work, but hey, I could've done worse.

Read and review!


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